A 51-year-old repeat offender was sentenced to 45 years for his role in a double murder at a restaurant in Houston’s Little Saigon neighborhood in 2022, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Thursday.

“This was a brutal shooting at a place that should be safe for families and for all Houstonians,” Ogg said. “It’s important to the community, as well as the victims’ families, that everyone involved be held accountable.”

Bich Xuan Dang pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 45 years in prison last week, just as he was scheduled to begin trial.

Dang was one of three men who walked into Tai Loi, a Vietnamese restaurant at 12320 Bellaire Blvd., and opened fire on two men sitting at a booth, Hanh Nguyen, 63, and Long Nguyen, 51, killing both, on Oct. 5, 2022.

The shooting was caught on surveillance video, and witnesses were also able to identify Dang.

The motive for the shooting remains unclear, but minutes before it happened, the three co-defendants were at a different Vietnamese business less than two miles away, Café Window, and were seen on surveillance video trying to shake down the manager for $1,000.

After a verbal altercation at Café Window, an armed security guard approached the trio and made them leave. The men appear to have driven directly to Tai Loi, walked in and almost immediately started shooting.

Officers with the Houston Police Department arrived to investigate and later arrested Dang and another man whose case is still pending. The third man has not been apprehended. Anyone with information on that man is urged to call the Tip Line at Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Assistant District Attorney Chris Condon, who is a chief in the DA’s Homicide Division, prosecuted the case with ADA George Lindsey, a chief in the DA’s Organized Crime Division.

“We were ready to go to trial when this defendant chose to take responsibility and plead guilty,” Condon said. “There is surveillance video of exactly what happened and witnesses who were planning to testify in order to get justice for the victims and their families.”

Since he pleaded guilty, Dang cannot appeal the conviction or the prison sentence. He will have to serve at least half of his sentence before he will be eligible for parole.

###